Judge: Hurd case 'a tragedy'

Former Dallas Cowboy Sam Hurd was sentenced to 15 years in prison for his role in a drug-pushing scheme while playing for the Chicago Bears,completing a steep downfall.

Photo By Layne Murdoch;LAYNE MURDOCH/SPECIAL TO THE EXPRESS-NEWS

Dallas Cowboy wide receiver Sam Hurd poses with his German shepherd watchdog Butch in front of his in Irving home on June 25, 2008.

Photo By Tom Gianni/AP

A courtroom artist’s illustration portrays Sam Hurd (center, right) as he makes an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Young Kim (left) on drug charges.

Photo By Nuccio DiNuzzo/MCT

Chicago Bears wide receiver Sam Hurd (81) during the second half against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Monday, November 7, 2011. Hurd was arrested Wednesday night, December 14, 2011, outside a Chicago restaurant after he accepted a kilogram of cocaine from a confidential informant and an undercover federal agent posing as a drug supplier, according to federal charges filed Thursday in Dallas.

Photo By AP

Stacee Hurd, left, wife of former Chicago Bears wide receiver Sam Hurd, leaves federal court after her husband's bond hearing on Friday, Dec. 16, 2011, in Chicago. Hurd, who was arrested Wednesday night after allegedly telling an undercover agent he was interested in buying five to 10 kilograms of cocaine and 1,000 pounds of marijuana per week to distribute in the Chicago area, was released Friday after posting $100,000 bond.

Photo By BOB OWEN/EN

SPORTS / ADV - Brackenridge High School receiver, Sam Hurd, runs with the ball during their game against Southwest High School , Saturday, Oct. 13, 2001. photo by Bob Owen / STAFF

Photo By MATT SLOCUM

Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Sam Hurd runs onto the field before the first day of football training camp, Saturday, July 29, 2006, in Oxnard, Calif. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Photo By Nam Huh

FILE - In this Aug. 2, 2011, file photo, Chicago Bears wide receiver Sam Hurd watches teammates practice during NFL football training camp at Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, Ill. Hurd was in jail Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011, after authorities accused him of trying to set up a drug distribution network in the Chicago area and arrested him after he allegedly agreed to buy a kilogram of cocaine from an undercover agent. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)

Photo By Edward A. Ornelas/Express-News

The Dallas Cowboys' Sam Hurd looks for room around the Washington Redskins' Carlos Rogers during the first half on Sunday, Dec. 19, 2010, at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington. The Cowboys won 33-30.

Receiver Sam Hurd makes a catch.

Receiver Sam Hurd performs catching drills at the end of the morning practice session.

Wearing red socks and stretching before practice, Cowboys' receiver and San ANtonio native Sam Hurd says he likes to eat at Mr. and Ms. G's Home Cooking.

Cowboys receiver Sam Hurd, making a catch during training camp at the Alamodome, only has 31 career catches in four seasons but has made a mark in Dallas on special teams.

Cowboys receiver Miles Austin (right) hugs Sam Hurd after scoring in the season-opening win over the Buccaneers.

Photo By Getty Images

Wide receiver Sam Hurd #17 of the Dallas Cowboys runs for a touchdown against the Seattle Seahawks at Cowboys Stadium on November 1, 2009 in Arlington, Texas.

Photo By Getty Images

Wide receiver Sam Hurd #17 of the Dallas Cowboys runs for a touchdown against the Seattle Seahawks at Cowboys Stadium on November 1, 2009 in Arlington, Texas.

Photo By JERRY LARA/San Antonio Express-News

Michael McCrum of San Antonio is one of two new defense attorneys for Sam Hurd.

Photo By Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News

Wide receiver Sam Hurd makes his way off the field and into the locker rooms at the end of practice at the Cowboys Training Camp at the Alamodome on Wednesday, August 19, 2009. Cowboys Camp wrapped up after three weeks in San Antonio. Kin Man Hui/kmhui@express-news.net

Photo By Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News

Wide receiver Sam Hurd (17) stretches for a pass reception in front of cornerback Alan Ball during the afternoon practice at the Cowboys Training Camp at the Alamodome on Saturday, August 15, 2009. Kin Man Hui/kmhui@express-news.net

Photo By Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News

Wide receiver Sam Hurd (center) stretches his legs before the start of the Cowboys Training Camp at the Alamodome on August 11, 2009. Kin Man Hui/kmhui@express-news.net

The lanky, hard-working wide receiver grabbed the occasional pass, made plenty of tackles on special teams and was so respected by his teammates, they made him a captain in 2010.

But those good times were all but forgotten Wednesday when the disgraced Brackenridge High graduate was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison after pleading guilty in April to one count of attempting to buy and distribute large amounts of cocaine and marijuana.

“It's a tragedy,” U.S. District Judge Jorge Solis told Hurd before issuing the sentence. “You had everything going for you. You had no reason to get involved in this activity. And you wanted to get into it in a big way... You didn't want to nickel and dime.”

A teary-eyed Hurd, wearing the standard orange prison garb, bowed his head and let out a deep sigh after the sentence was read at the end of the four-hour hearing.

“I am sorry, very remorseful for what I did,” Hurd, 28, said in a rambling, sometimes emotional 25-minute plea for mercy.

Hurd's attorneys, Jay Ethington of Dallas and Michael McCrum of San Antonio, asked Solis to give Hurd the minimum 10-year sentence. He faced the possibility of life in prison.

“A broken heart,” McCrum said when asked to describe his client's reaction to the sentence.

The courtroom included several of Hurd's family members and friends. Many cried out when the sentence was read but later declined comment.

Even though Solis gave Hurd a much shorter sentence than the 27 to 34 years recommended by federal sentencing guidelines, McCrum expressed mixed feelings about the decision.

“I think it's fair the judge departed from the recommendation of the government,” McCrum said. “I think a fairer sentence would have been 10 years.”

The sentence came after Hurd and his attorneys argued he wasn't the drug kingpin described in the government's case.

While Hurd admitted to buying and distributing marijuana, he denied trafficking cocaine and making “high-end deals.”

“I don't have the IQ of a (drug kingpin),” he said. “I don't know nothing about cocaine. I am the dumbest drug dude ever.”

Hurd was arrested in December 2011 outside a Chicago steakhouse after walking out of the eatery with a brick of cocaine in a bag. According to a federal complaint, he told an undercover agent he wanted 5 to 10 kilograms of cocaine and 1,000 pounds of marijuana per week to distribute in Chicago.

McCrum said Hurd was simply “talking stupid” and doing what he's done all his life: exaggerate.

The government's allegations shocked those who knew Hurd as a community-minded, religious family man with a wife he met at Northern Illinois University and a young daughter.

But Hurd admitted he lived a double-life that included an addiction to marijuana.

“My biggest regret was ever smoking marijuana,” he said. “That has led to some bad decisions.”

Hurd joined the Cowboys in 2006 as an undrafted free agent. After five seasons with Dallas, he signed a three-year deal worth more than $5 million with the Chicago Bears.

Following his arrest, Hurd returned to San Antonio, where he got into more trouble. According to the government, he failed two drug tests and allegedly tried to make deals for more cocaine and marijuana with his cousin, Tyrone Chavful. In August 2012, Hurd returned to jail after his bail was revoked.

Hurd's road to ruin started when he gave $88,000 to co-defendant Toby Lujan with the knowledge the Dallas auto shop worker might use it to buy drugs.

Chavful and Lujan have pleaded guilty. Solis gave Chavful eight years in prison. Lujan faces sentencing in January.

Prosecutors denied they are trying to make an example of Hurd because he's a pro athlete.

“He's not being prosecuted because he's an NFL player,” prosecutor John Kull said. “He's being prosecuted because he's a drug dealer.”